How To Get Real Followers For Instagram With 6 Authentic Options

Dreaming of social media stardom? Then you need real followers for Instagram.

Maybe you’ve been trying to spread brand awareness for a while now, and Instagram seems like the ultimate place for you to make a visual impact. After all, there are a billion users posting on IG right now.

Perhaps you just want to engage with a younger generation of customers and tap into the consumer power of the millennial demographic.

When you’re just getting started, it’s tempting to simply “pay to win” with Instagram. You figure you’ll buy a few thousand followers, and the rest will happen naturally. Unfortunately, buying Instagram followers doesn’t mean that you purchase engagement.

When your free Instagram followers start to see how fake your previous fans actually are, your social reputation could start to suffer.

So, what’s the alternative?

Simple. Get real followers on IG instead.

How To Get Real Followers For Instagram

We know what you’re thinking: “Getting free followers for Instagram isn’t that easy!”

You’re right, of course. Creating a successful Instagram account take a lot of time and effort. However, if you’re willing to show the dedication, the results can be incredible. Yes, you need to find your way through the 80 million photos shared on Instagram each day before you can make an impact – but it’s worth it.

When you get real followers on IG, you get all the engagement, love and loyalty that comes with them. It’s those loyal and real fans that are going to invest in your business – not the fake ones.

Getting Real Followers For Instagram: Step 1: The Profile

First things first, if you want authentic followers, then you need an authentic profile.

Once you’ve created your business Instagram, make sure it stands out as a professional representation of your brand. How do you do this?

Make your username as recognizable as possible: Ideally, you’ll either want your name, or your business name. If your name is already taken, you can add a related term to the end. For instance, @LornaJaneActive, the Australian activewear line, stays searchable by keeping their brand at the front of their user name.

With your name chosen, select a profile picture that’s consistent with your existing online presence. It might be your logo, or your face if you’re creating a personal brand.

Fill your bio with plenty of useful information that tells your followers what you’re all about. You can even use taglines to make a lasting impression on your audience. For instance, @WeWork features the phrase “Make a life, not just a living.”

Next, head to the settings on your Instagram profile and make sure that it’s set to public. All you need to do is visit the Options section, and check that the Private Account setting is toggled off.

Finally, you’re going to want to track how engaged your new free Instagram followers are. With that in mind, enable notifications so you’re the first to know whenever someone likes or comments on your photos. This will help you to keep your audience engaged with quick responses.

Getting Real Followers For Instagram: Step 2: The Content

When you’re generating real followers for Instagram, the most valuable tool in your arsenal is your content strategy. Instagram is all about the visual material. That means that you should be delivering stunning, high-quality images and videos on a regular basis.

Additionally, adding the right captions, or posting at different times can make a huge difference to your strategy, you’ll be surprised how much little details matter. Keep your ear to the ground with the latest Instagram trends and focus on posting the content your audience genuinely wants to see.

Getting Real Followers For Instagram: Step 3: Engagement

One of the biggest things that separates real followers for Instagram, from their fake counterparts, is the engagement level. In other words, if you want to be successful, you need to put the “social” back into social media.

Usually, when you make a new connection on your personal IG page, you follow them, like their posts, and comment on an image. Unfortunately, this process is a little time-consuming for the average business. If you’re looking to increase Instagram followers fast, you’re going to need a strategy.

A useful tip is to list around 20 people or brands with a similar audience to the one you’re trying to target. When you have time to start engaging, go to those accounts and leave useful comments on their posts. This will encourage the followers on other accounts to come and give your profile a look.

You could also try giving other companies a shoutout with an @Mention, to pull new followers your way. Once new people start following you and commenting on your posts, make sure you respond to them with an @mention and a few interesting messages. Remember, emojis are a great way to add pizazz to your posts. Just check out how active LocalWanderer is when it comes to engaging customers:

Getting Real Followers for Instagram: Step 4: Community

When you’re looking to get real followers on IG, it’s important not to underestimate how helpful your customers can be. The more you bring genuine fans into your community, the easier it is to attract additional free Instagram followers to your posts.

A great way to build your follower count, is to get your posts in front of as many relevant customers as possible. This means not only having an active profile on IG, but also making your way into other Instagram feeds too. For instance, you could try sponsoring some user-generated content to appear in the feeds of related brands.

Try working with influencers in your space to generate more attention among customers that you might not have been able to reach yet. Remember, you don’t have to restrict yourself to shout-outs from similar companies or celebrities. Micro-influencers can be just as important to your social strategy.

Even reposting something from a happy customer can be enough to deliver an extra dose of “social proof” to your campaign and convince your clients that they can trust you.

Getting Real Followers For Instagram: Step 5: Consistency

Finally, real people expect real value – and they want it on a regular basis.

When you’re trying to increase Instagram followers on a business account, the worst thing you can do is post irregularly. Ultimately, your previously loyal audience will end up forgetting why they bothered connecting with you in the first place.

The easiest way to overcome this consistency issue, is to stick to a strict posting schedule. If it helps, there are plenty of useful tools out there that can help you to post content automatically, so if your day gets a little too hectic, your customers still get their IG fix. Of course, automated posts have their problems – as it’s hard to stay up-to-date with the current trends when your posts are scheduled two months in advance.

Instead, try building your free Instagram followers with a dedicated account manager from a service like Upleap. This way, you make sure that you’re posting as often as possible, at the times best-suited to your customers, without losing the crucial personal touch that’s so important in social media marketing.

Getting Real Followers For Instagram: Step 6: Cross-Promoting

If you want to get real followers on IG, then you need to make it easy for the right people to find you. A great way to do this, is to take advantage of the presence you already have on other social networks.

For instance, if you’re already killing it on Facebook, make sure you let your fans there know about your Instagram account. They might prefer to follow you on Instagram, and simply didn’t know that they had the option. You can share links to your Instagram profile on any other channel. Plus, the close connection between Facebook and Instagram means that you can even share pics posted on Instagram straight to your Facebook page.

It also helps to have a solid hashtag strategy in place. Hashtags are a common component of basically every social channel, so make sure that you don’t underestimate them.

Remember, look for hashtags that aren’t too competitive to start with. According to Social Media Examiner, the hashtag #love has around 200 million photos linking to it. That’s some serious competition. You can always try branded hashtags too, based on your event, brand name, or something else important to your company.

A post shared by David Beckham (@davidbeckham) on Aug 30, 2018 at 10:19am PDT

Earning Real Followers For Instagram

Ultimately, figuring out how to stock up on free Instagram followers isn’t easy – but it’s worth your time. Once you’ve got the right strategy in place, you’ll find that you naturally start to attract the attention of the people that can really help to skyrocket your brand.

Forget the #Fake accounts and embrace authenticity on IG. Real effort leads to real rewards in the long term.

By Rebekah Carter

Hi! I'm Rebekah, a full-time writer specializing in the spaces of digital content, business, social media and tech.

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